Aeronautical and Astronautical Events
of January-March 1961

SOURCE: Eugene M. Emme, comp., Aeronautical and Astronautical
Events of 1961, Report of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
to the Committee on Science and Astronautics, U.S. House of Representatives,
87th Cong., 2d. Sess. (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing
Office, 1962), pp. 1-13.

JANUARY 1961

January 1: White House statement of President Eisenhower
issued, stating that "the early establishment of a communication
satellite system which can be used on a commercial basis is a
national objective."

---: Project Ice Way was established near Thule by the Geophysics
Research Directorate of the Cambridge Research Laboratories to
test the feasibility of landing heavy aircraft on ice runways.
The tests, completed in June 1961, demonstrated the strength and
other engineering qualities of the ice runways constructed of
natural sea water or reinforced with strands of Fiberglas.

Early January: Because of the danger of a power
drain in connection with remote (tape recorder) operation, the
wide-angle camera of Tiros II was turned on only for direct readout,
while satellite passed over Fort Monmouth and Point Arguello.

January 3: NASA's Space Task Group, charged with
carrying out Project Mercury and other manned space flight programs,
officially became a separate NASA field element.

---: NASA awarded contract to General Electric for an investigation
of means of storing solar heat energy in satellites.

January 4: Ablation model test with electric arc
attained 4,000þ F for 105 seconds at Langley Research Center,
one of a series of tests begun in September 1960.

January 5: Turbofan-powered B-52H Boeing bomber,
with two prototype Douglas Skybolt air-launched 1,000-mile-range
ballistic missiles under each wing, was rolled out of the factory
at Wichita, Kans.

January 9: Jet Propulsion Laboratory awarded contract
to Beckman Instruments for design studies on equipment to analyze
the surface of the Moon.

---: Japanese scientist associated with Radio Research Laboratories
of the Japanese Ministry of Communications began studies of space
communications at NASA's Goldstone, Calif., Deep Space Tracking
Station.

January 10: President-elect Kennedy received report
of special nine-man committee on the national space program. Chairman
of the committee was Dr. Jerome B. Wiesner of MIT.

---: A Polaris missile of the advanced A-2 design was fired from
Cape Canaveral 1,600 miles down the Atlantic Missile Range. It
was the third success in as many firings for the new Polaris designed
to operate at a range over 1,700 miles.

January 11: President-elect Kennedy announced that
Jerome B. Wiesner of MIT would be special assistant to the President
for science and technology.

January 12: President Eisenhower in his state of
the Union address to Congress reviewed U.S. progress in space
exploration, stating, "These achievements unquestionably
make us pre-eminent in space exploration for the betterment of
mankind."

---: Joint DOD-NASA release outlined actions of the Aeronautics
and Astronautics Coordinating Board (AACB) since its creation
in September 1960.

---: First Italian launching of scientific sounding rocket in
cooperative program with United States, a Nike-Cajun launched
from a range in Sardinia to a height of over 100 miles, and released
a cloud of sodium vapor visible for many miles.

January 13: Convair B-58 Hustler, jet bomber powered
by four GE J-79 engines, broke six world speed records, Maj. H.
J. Deutschendorf, U.S. Air Force, as pilot. On first closed-course
run, the Hustler averaged 1,200.194 miles per hour, and it averaged
1,061.808 miles per hour on both runs carrying a payload of 4,408
pounds and a crew of three.

---: NASA announced that a Life Sciences Research Laboratory would
be established on February 1 at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett
Field, Calif.

January 15: NASA began negotiations with French
Commission for Spatial and Scientific Research for conducting
a cooperative Franco-American space program.

January 16: FCC first allocated radio frequencies
to private industry (ITT) for experiments in bouncing signals
off the Moon and artificial satellites.

---: In the message of President Eisenhower accompanying his budget
for fiscal year 1962, it was said: "In the program of manned
space flight, the reliability of complex booster capsule escape
and life support components of the Mercury system is now being
tested to assure a safe manned ballistic flight into space, and
hopefully a manned orbital flight in calendar year 1961. Further
test and experimentation will be necessary to establish if there
are any valid scientific reasons for extending manned space flight
beyond the Mercury program."

---: Final assembly of first Saturn flight vehicle (SA-1) was
completed.

January 17: First invention award under the authority
of the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 given to Dr.
Frank T. McClure of the Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins
for his satellite Doppler navigation system, the $3,000 award
being presented by NASA Administrator Glennan at NASA headquarters.

January 19: Report of the Space Science Board of
the National Academy of Sciences stated that life in some form
on other planets of the solar system may possibly exist, but that
evidence of this is not available today.

---: Federal Communications Commission allocated a radio frequency
to the American Telephone & Telegraph Co. to establish the
first space satellite communications link between Europe and the
United States on an experimental basis, a program calling for
NASA launching of a series of experimental communication satellites
capable of relaying telephone calls, television programs, and
other messages across the Atlantic.

---: NASA announced indefinite suspension of the programming of
the wide-angle camera in Tiros II, the experimental weather observation
satellite launched on November 23, 1960.

January 20: United States and United Kingdom signed
formal agreement covering minitrack station at Winkfield, England.

---: Under NASA contract, United Technology Corp. successfully
completed ground tests of three 15,000-pound thrust segmented
solid-propellent rockets. Each was made up of three 1,000-pound
sections which were joined prior to firing.

---: NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) awarded contracts
to North American Aviation and Ryan Aeronautical to develop paraglider
recovery system for the Saturn booster, based upon concept developed
by Francis M. Rogallo of NASA's Langley Research Center.

---: Headline news in Moscow was detailed Tass announcement that
Strelka, one of two female dogs recovered from orbiting Spacecraft
II in August 1960, had given birth to six puppies in good health.
Pravda had announced 3 weeks earlier that one of the satellite-passenger
dogs had given birth.

January 29: NASA announced establishment of Goddard
Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York City, which would
be an extension of the Theoretical Division of Goddard Space Flight
Center, Greenbelt, Md. It will be headed by Dr. Robert Jastrow.

January 30: President Kennedy stated in his state
of the Union address to Congress: "This administration intends
to explore promptly all possible areas of cooperation with the
Soviet Union and other nations to invoke the wonders of science
instead of its terrors. Specifically, I now invite all nationsþincluding
the Soviet Unionþto join with us in developing a weather
prediction program, in a new communication satellite program,
and in preparation for probing the distant planets of Mars and
Venus, probes which may some day unlock the deepest secrets of
the universe."

---: James E. Webb nominated as Administrator of NASA by President
Kennedy.

January 30-February 2: Conference of 12 European
nations held at Strasbourg to discuss a British and French proposal
for a European satellite launcher development program.

January 31: USAF Samos II, a 4,100-pound test satellite
containing photographic equipment, placed in orbit by Atlas-Agena
A from Point Arguello, Calif.

---: Mercury-Redstone (MR-2) flight from Atlantic Missile Range
shot Mercury capsule containing chimpanzee named Ham to 157 miles
altitude and 418 miles down range. Capsule with life-support equipment
functioned well but flight was 42 miles higher and 125 miles farther
than programmed. Ham was recovered in good health.

During January: International Committee on Geophysics,
successor organization to the IGY, meeting in Paris, endorsed
proposal for Quiet Sun Year during 1964-65. (IGY had been selected
for its intense sunspot activity.)

---: NASA internal studies of a manned lunar landing program were
completed. Studies considered both the direct ascent based on
a large Nova-type launch vehicle and the rendezvous method of
earth orbit using a number of Saturn C-2's.

---: Experiments with Echo I were discontinued except for occasional
checks, having provided for innumerous communications since launch
on August 12, 1960.

---: Wind tunnel testing of model of the first Saturn (SA-1) began
at Arnold Engineering Development Center at Tullahoma, Tenn.

---: Explosions of Centaur engines at Pratt & Whitney led
to suspension of testing.

FEBRUARY 1961

February 1: Life Sciences Laboratory established
by NASA at Ames Research Center to augment, lead, direct, encourage,
and coordinate biomedical research related to the space program.

---: USAF Minuteman successful on first test launch from AFMTC,
a three-stage solid-propellent ICBM with full guidance, all tested
on its first launching.

---: The space surveillance system (Spasur) was formally commissioned
at the Naval Weapons Laboratory, Dahlgren, Va., under the operational
control of the North American Defense Command.

February 2: NASA-AEC Space Nuclear Propulsion Office
invited industry to submit proposals for participation in development
of Nerva (nuclear engine for rocket vehicle application), a part
of Project Rover initiated in 1955 by USAF-AEC.

---: Nomination of James E. Webb to be Administrator of NASA reported
favorably by the Senate Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences.

---: Dr. T. Keith Glennan was named consultant to the Senate Committee
on Aeronautical and Space Sciences.

---: NASA announced that it would negotiate with Boeing Co., Chance
Vought Corp., and Martin Co., for tanks for five first-stage Saturn
launch vehicles. It later announced additional selection of Chrysler
Corp.

February 4: Sputnik IV launched into orbit by U.S.S.R.,
a 7.1-ton payload, but mission of flight was not announced.

---: Plans to launch a Japanese Kappa 6 sounding rocket within
a year announced by Yugoslavia.

February 5: Orientation of Tiros II made it impossible
to obtain Northern Hemisphere pictures and malfunctions made remote
picture taking undesirable, so that use of satellite's cameras
was suspended until orbit precession again made Northern Hemisphere
pictures possible.

February 6: NASA Aerobee-Hi successfully reached
96 miles above Wallops Station in test of behavior of liquid hydrogen
in zero gravity for Lewis Research Center hydrogen propulsion
development.

February 7: X-15 flown to unofficial record 2,275
miles per hour by Maj. Robert White, U.S. Air Force.

February 7-8: Meeting of NASA and contractor personnel
held at NASA headquarters to review Centaur development program.

February 8: When asked at press conference about
U.S. man-in-space plans, President Kennedy stated: "We are
very concerned that we do not put a man in space in order to gain
some prestige and have the man take a disproportionate risk .
. . even if we should come in second in putting a man in space,
I will still be satisfied if when we finally put a man in space
his chances of survival are as high as I think they must be."

February 8: NAA delivered X-15 No. 2 with XLR-99
engine to NASA for the initiation of the NASA flight research
program.

February 9: Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
reported that Earth is a slightly irregular ellipsoid according
to new calculations.

---: James E. Webb confirmed by the Senate as Administrator of
NASA.

---: Gen. Thomas D. White, USAF Chief of Staff, ordered space
surveillance functions transferred from Air Research and Development
Command to the Air Defense Command at Ent Air Force Base, Colo.,
as technology in this field moved from research and development
to an operational stage. The ADC established Spadats (space detection
and tracking system).

February 10: Voice message sent from Washington
to Woomera, Australia, by way of the Moon. NASA Deputy Administrator
Dryden spoke on telephone to Goldstone, Calif., which "bounced"
it to the deep space instrumentation station at Woomera. The operation
was held as part of the official opening ceremony of the deep
space instrumentation facility site in Australia.

---: First static test of prototype thrust chamber of F-1 engine
achieved a thrust of 1,550,000 pounds for a few seconds, at Edwards,
Calif.

---: Three-day meeting of Satellite Panel of the World Meteorological
Organization concluded at Washington, D.C., minus participation
by the Soviet member.

February 10-11: Space Science Board of the National
Academy of Sciences worked out recommendation that "scientific
exploration of the Moon and planets should be clearly stated as
the ultimate objective of the U.S. space program for the foreseeable
future." This report was submitted to the President on March
31 and was released publicly on August 6.

February 12: Sputnik VIII launched into Earth orbit
by U.S.S.R., from which it placed 1,419-pound Venus probe on its
course.

February 13: USAF Gam-83B, modification of Navy
Bullpup, a solid-propellent air-to-surface missile, was successfully
launched at supersonic speed by an F-100 Supersabre.

February 14: NASA Nike-Cajun rocket launched from
Wallops Station, carrying 60-pound payload ejecting explosive
charges, which fired at intervals from 20- to 80-mile altitude
to provide data on density of the atmosphere.

---: Last of second series of static firings of Saturn completed
at Marshall Space Flight Center for 110 seconds, approximately
full duration.

---: NASA and United Kingdom agreed to establish joint program
to test communications satellites to be launched by NASA in 1962
and 1963 in Projects Relay and Rebound.

February 15: U.S.S.R. reportedly made first photos
of solar eclipse from a vehicle in space, in report later released
on May 28.

---: James E. Webb was sworn in as NASA Administrator.

February 16: NASA Explorer IX placed in orbit by
four-stage Scout booster from Wallops Station, the first satellite
launching from Wallops, and the first satellite boosted by a solid-fuel
rocket. Explorer IX was a 12-foot diameter sphere after inflation
at orbital altitude.

---: NASA and France agreed to establish joint program to test
communications satellites to be launched by NASA in 1962 and 1963
in Projects Relay and Rebound.

February 17: "Polka dot" Explorer IX found
in orbit by visual and photographic means after failure of radio
beacon delayed confirmation of orbit.

February 23: NASA Administrator James E. Webb and
Deputy Secretary of Defense Roswell Gilpatric signed letter of
understanding confirming the national launch vehicle program,
the integrated development and procurement of space boosters by
NASA and DOD. It was agreed that neither DOD nor NASA would initiate
the development of a launch vehicle or booster for use in space
without written acknowledgement of the other agency.

---: Proposed DOD Directive entitled "Development of Space
Systems" was submitted to the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the
military services for comment by March 2.

February 24: NASA Juno II launched S-45 I ionosphere
beacon satellite which did not achieve orbit due to malfunction
shortly after booster separation.

February 25: Paul F. Bikle set world glider altitude
record of 46,267 feet in Schweizer 1-23-E sailplane, beating record
of 42,100 feet set by W. S. Ivans in 1950. Bikle is Director of
NASA Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif., which is conducting
the X-15 flight research program.

February 26: Sputnik IV, launched on February 4,
reentered the Earth's atmosphere.

February 27: FCC-NASA memorandum of understanding
for delineating and coordinating civil communication space activities
signed. It stated that "earliest practicable realization
of a commercially operable communication satellite system is a
national objective."

---: NASA released "Evaluation of U.S.S.R. versus U.S. Output
in Space Science," a study prepared for the House Committee
on Science and Astronautics.

February 28: NASA Administrator James E. Webb stated
that President Kennedy had ordered a thorough review of the Nation's
space programs.

---: Bell Telephone Laboratories and General Electric conducted
a "phase stability" experiment on Echo I, the results
indicating that the sphere was keeping its "roundness"
much longer than anticipated.

---: NASA-USAF returned X-15 No. 1 to contractor (NAA) for installation
of final engine of 57,000-pound thrust.

MARCH 1961

March 2: Tass announced that radio contact with
the Soviet Venus probe could not be established on February 27.

---: The fourth firing of an advanced Polaris A-2, and the first
from a ship, was made by the U.S.S. Observation Island
as she cruised at 8 knots, 10 miles offshore from Cape Canaveral.

---: Department of Defense decision indicated that perfected military
space vehicles would be assigned to each service which demonstrated
an operational need for them, thus giving USAF major responsibility
for military space development.

---: Direct-mode pictures by Tiros II camera were resumed after
a month of inoperation. The quality of the pictures showed some
slight improvement, supporting the theory that foreign matter
may have been deposited on the lens and was gradually evaporating.

---: Equipped with turbofan engines, B-52H made its first flight
at Wichita, Kans.

---: Maj. Robert White, U.S. Air Force, flew X-15 a record speed
of 2,905 miles per hour, topping his mark of 2,275 miles per hour
set on February 7 with interim engine.

March 9: U.S.S.R. launched 5-ton Sputnik IV into
orbit and recovered dog passenger, the second time this feat was
performed.

---: Harold B. Finger was appointed Assistant Director for Nuclear
Applications in NASA's Office of Launch Vehicle Programs, and
continued as Manager of the AEC-NASA Space Nuclear Propulsion
Office (SNPO).

---: Dr. Harold Brown, of University of California's Lawrence
Radiation Laboratories, was named Director of Research and Engineering
for the Department of Defense, to succeed Dr. Herbert F. York.

March 10: NASA announced first success in immediate
detection in real time of radar signals off planet Venus by Jet
Propulsion Laboratory Goldstone, as part of 2-month research program.

---: NASA and Navy jointly established development program to
increase payload capability of Scout vehicle by 40 percent by
improved performance of third- and fourth-stage engines.

---: NASA awarded contracts to Convair, Lockheed, and North American
for studies of space vehicles beyond the Saturn class, having
first-stage thrust of 6 to 12 million pounds.

---: National Meteorite Symposium held at Arizona State University,
Tempe, Ariz.

March 13: Soviet astronomers claimed to have discovered
the presence of oxygen in the atmosphere of Venus. Dr. Brian Warner
of the London Observatory correlated and reinterpreted spectrographic
data gathered earlier by Soviet Astronomer Nikolai Kozyrev.

---: An Atlas intended for 9,000-mile flight into the Indian Ocean
plunged into the Atlantic only 200 miles from Cape Canaveral.

March 14-15: United States and United Kingdom signed
formal agreement covering Mercury tracking stations on Bermuda.

Mid-March: Up to this time, approximately 78 percent
of the wide-angle photographs relayed from Tiros II (weather satellite)
were considered usable for current weather analysis.

March 15: NASA and United Kingdom's Space Sciences
Committee agreed on experiments to be included in the second United
Kingdom satellite (launched by NASA's Scout), the experiments
being galactic noise, atmospheric ozone, and micrometeoroids.

March 16: Scientists from Fordham University and
Esso Research announced that they had discovered waxy compounds
inside a fragment of a meteorite found near Orgueil, France, in
1864.

---: NASA Robert H. Goddard Space Flight Center officially dedicated
at Greenbelt, Md., dedication address delivered by Dr. Detlev
Bronk, President of the National Academy of Sciences. It was the
35th anniversary of Dr. Goddard's successful launching of the
world's first liquid fuel rocket. Mrs. Robert H. Goddard accepted
the congressional medal honoring her husband.

March 17: Vanguard I completed third year in orbit
and was still transmitting. Vanguard I provided much useful data
on orbits, including the slight pear-shape of the Earth and the
effect of solar pressure. Vanguard also provided the second stage
for the Able, Delta, and Able-Star, as well as the third stage
of Scout, pioneering solid-propellant stages used in Polaris and
Minuteman.

---: First Northrop T-38 supersonic jet trainer was delivered
to USAF Air Training Command at Randolph Air Force Base, Tex.

March 18: Little Joe 6 fired Mercury spacecraft
from Wallops, resulted in limited test of escape system because
of unprogrammed sequence.

March 19: Problems with the shutter of the wind-angle
camera of the Tiros II were noted, but later disappeared and did
not significantly affect data from this camera.

---: Tiny particle of matter from another galaxy hit upper atmosphere
of the Earth over New Mexico at a speed close to that of light
and split with great force. Resultant particle shower numbered
between 20 and 40 billion pieces, according to scintillation counters
at the Volcano Ranch Cosmic Ray Research Center near Albuquerque,
N. Mex.

March 20: Charles J. Dolan named Associate Director
of NASA's Langley Research Center. He had been associated with
the NASA Space Task Group since its formation at Langley in November
1958.

March 20-21: Representatives of NASA and the French
Committee for Space Research agreed on cooperative space science
program in meeting at Washington, D.C.

March 22: National Academy of Sciences' Geophysics
Research Board announced preliminary plans for an International
Year of the Quiet Sun (IQSY) during 1964-65.

---: Dr. Edward C. Welsh, a former aid to Senator Symington, was
nominated by the President to be the Executive Secretary of the
National Aeronautics and Space Council.

March 23: Responding to inquiry by the chairman
of the House Science and Astronautics Committee, President Kennedy
stated in a letter: "It is not now nor has it ever been my
intention to subordinate the activities of [NASA] to those of
the Department of Defense . . . there are legitimate missions
in space for which the military services should assume responsibility
. . . [and there are] major missions, such as the scientific unmanned
and manned exploration of space and the application of space technology
to the conduct of peaceful activities, which should be carried
forward by the civilian space agency."

---: The first World Meteorological Day was observed by 50 nations
under sponsorship of the World Meteorological Organization.

---: Tiros II completed 4 months in orbit and continued to provide
useful cloud picture and radiation data. Signal from Tiros II
was used on 1,763d orbit to trigger dynamite to break ground for
new RCA Space Environment Center at Princeton, N.J.

---: NASA and United Kingdom's Department of Science and Industrial
Research signed agreement covering data acquisition unit in Falkland
Islands for "topside sounder," a joint United States-Canada
project.

March 25: NASA Thor-Delta fired Explorer X (P-14)
into highly elliptical orbit (apogee of 148,000 miles, perigee
of 100 miles) with instruments to transmit data on the nature
of the magnetic fields and charged particles in this region of
space where the Earth's magnetic field merges with that in interplanetary
space.

---: Prof. Martin Schwarzschild, of Princeton University, named
by the National Academy of Sciences to receive the Henry Draper
Medal for his work as director of ONR's Project Stratoscope (produced
clear photos of the structure of the surface of the Sun).

---: U.S.S.R. launched Spacecraft V, a more than 5-ton payload,
and recovered capsule containing a dog named Little Star. This
was apparently a repeat of the March 9 shot.

March 26: NASA Aerobee research rocket with University
of Michigan payload shot to 252-mile altitude from Wallops Station.

---: Pravda article stated that the day was "not far distant
when a Soviet human being will rocket into space."

March 27: Budget Director David E. Bell made known
to Joint Economic Committee of Congress that the new administration
would request for fiscal year 1962 $125.67 million more for NASA
(in addition to previous $1,110 million) and $65 million more
for the National Science Foundation (additional to $210 million).

March 27: President Kennedy initiated actions to
speed up the development of large boosters.

---: Dr. Carl Sagan, of the University of California, suggested
that the seeding of the atmosphere of Venus with algae might alter
its atmosphere to support human life.

---: Its instruments recording a magnetic impulse, Explorer X
became the first satellite to measure the shock wave generated
by a solar flare.

---: President Kennedy requested Congress for $2 million so that
NASA could aid FAA in development of supersonic transport aircraft.
President also asked for $12 million increase in FAA budget.

---: NASA Goddard scientists reported that Explorer X had encountered
magnetic fields considerably stronger than expected in its elongated
orbit which carried it 112,500 miles from Earth (almost halfway
to the Moon), although it would take several weeks to analyze
acquired data.

---: Soviet press conference at Soviet Academy of Sciences in
Moscow, at which Biochemist N.M. Sisakian announced that all six
of Strelka's pups, on exhibit, were developing normally: "Our
research on these animals, just completed, has proved that no
dangerous consequences to the functioning of the organs have stemmed
from the space flight. This problem has an important bearing on
our preparations for man's orbiting."

---: Alexander Topchiev, Vice Chairman of the Soviet Academy of
Science, stated in Moscow that Western reports that some Soviet
astronauts had perished in space flight attempt were "a complete
fabrication . . . entirely and absolutely unfounded." Occasion
was press conference at the Academy of Science on the subject
of the imminent flight of man into space, at which four space
dogs and six offspring were televised.

---: Draft DOD directive on "Reconnaissance, Mapping, and
Geodetic Programs" (5160.34), relative to development of
military space systems, was sent to the services for comment.

March 29: At 280th session of disarmament conference
at Geneva, Arthur H. Dean presented U.S. proposal that a system
of space satellites for patrolling a ban on nuclear testing be
fully operational 6 years after ratification of such a ban. Such
a space patrol could "open up a new frontier of knowledge
for the benefit of mankind."

March 30: Reactor-in-flight-test system (Rift) study,
a part of the NASA-AEC program on nuclear rockets, was briefed
by contractors at NASA headquarters.

---: USAF Discoverer XXII failed to achieve orbit.

---: NASA-USAF-USN rocket research X-15 flown to 169,600 feet
by Joseph A. Walker, NASA pilot, the highest altitude ever reached
by man and which included 2 minutes of weightlessness at the top
of his climb. The X-15, powered by XLR-99 rocket engine designed
to thrust it to 50 miles altitude and speeds of up to 4,000 miles
per hour, was only run at three-quarters throttle.

March 30: USAF announced reduction of the B-70 program
contract commitments to North American, Westinghouse, and other
firms. Five major subcontracts were canceled and four others sharply
reduced.

---: By this date, all stations of NASA's worldwide Mercury tracking
network were operational.

---: Space Science Board of the National Academy of Sciences submitted
its recommendation of February 10-11 that "scientific exploration
of the Moon and planets should clearly be stated as the ultimate
objective of the U.S. space program for the foreseeable future."

During March: Announced that National Institutes
of Health scientists were growing organisms found inside of a
meteorite that fell at Murray, Ky., around 1950; first reported
instance of living material, perhaps extraterrestrial, grown in
a laboratory.